Call for employers not to penalise workers for Coronavirus self-isolation

Employers are being urged by Unite not to penalise their staff who are required to self-isolate due to Coronavirus fears.

Unite has secured agreement with many employers that if a worker is required to self-isolate it will be disregarded for the purposes of attendance management policies and redundancy policies.

In many companies, as part of an attendance management policy system, employers operate a sliding scale of interventions including disciplinary processes and capability reviews, relating to how frequently an employee is off sick.

Equally, if an employer is making redundancies, the number of sick days a worker has taken during a set period will often be a factor in deciding which workers are selected.

Companies that are already working with Unite to draw up policies to deal with these issues concerning self-isolation include: Freightliner, Arriva Traincare, Bombardier and Hitachi Rail.

Unite assistant general secretary Diana Holland, commented, “Workers who are required to self-isolate to protect colleagues and the general public should suffer no detriment in their employment.

“Many responsible companies are already working with Unite on these matters and on this vital public health matter Unite believes that all companies should follow this approach.”

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